Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1190. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps his Department have taken unilaterally and at a European Union and United Nations level to assist persecuted minorities inside Iraq; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33522/14]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1198. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the persecution of minority groups in Iraq and Syria; the steps he has taken, and will take to give assistance and support to victims of the conflict in those states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33991/14]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1230. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the proposals he put forward at recent EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings in relation to the conflict in Iraq and adjoining areas and the persecution and murder of Christians; the assistance the EU is providing to that general region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34865/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1190, 1198 and 1230 together.

Ireland regularly raises the protection of minority communities through its official bilateral contacts with many countries, stressing the responsibility of all governments to protect all its citizens and minorities. Recent events have demonstrated the acute risks faced by religious minorities from terrorist groups such as ISIS and others.

The extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council on 15 August 2014 which I attended adopted conclusions which condemned all violence against minorities in Iraq and called for the urgent formation of a unity Government which would address the needs and legitimate aspirations of all Iraqi citizens. I welcome the fact that such a unity government has now been agreed in Iraq, led by Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi. The Council at its 15 August meeting also undertook to cooperate with the Iraqi and Kurdish regional authorities in combatting terrorism. The EU is the leading provider of humanitarian and development assistance to the countries affected by the Syrian and Iraqi crises.

Ireland co-sponsored the request for the recent special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Iraq, which condemned the widespread violation of human rights, including murder, abduction, displacement, torture and sexual violence against religious minorities by ISIS, and called on the Iraqi authorities to promote and uphold human rights laws and international humanitarian law and to promote religious freedom and pluralism and to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence.

Ireland as a current UN HRC member has also fully supported UN efforts, and in particular the work of the HRC Commission of Inquiry, to investigate the very many human rights violations and atrocities which have been perpetrated throughout the last three-and-a-half years of conflict in Syria. Ireland has also repeatedly supported all calls for the situation in Syria to be referred by the UN Security Council to the ICC.

Ireland attaches great importance to combatting all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief and incitement to religious hatred. This is a priority for Ireland as a current member of the UN Human Rights Council and we have played a central role in the negotiation of two important resolutions on this issue in the past year.

I have raised the possibility of providing protection for some refugees from the recent violence in northern Iraq with Minister Frances Fitzgerald, and this is being advanced by officials in my Department and the Department of Justice and Equality. Ireland is already accepting 90 Syrian refugees in 2014 under its refugee resettlement programme with the UN High Commission for Refugees. Ultimately, asylum in Ireland or in Europe cannot provide the solution to this problem, because the numbers are too great and because this would in practice spell the end for many religious communities who have survived in the region for centuries.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Ireland has provided over €28 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria and the Syrian refugee population in neighbouring countries. Ireland has provided a further €1.155 million in assistance to Iraq this year, most of which has been provided for humanitarian relief in Northern Iraq to assist the population displaced by ISIS.